Category: Photography

Just photos – no particular theme

Beside the Severn to Hampton Loade

On By geoffspagesIn Photography, Railways..., WalksLeave a comment

An easy stroll this afternoon – Hampton Loade and back – out by the riverside path, back past Chelmarsh reservoir. It’s a fine, sunny and warm afternoon, with puffy little cumulus clouds putting some detail in the sky. We can sit at Hampton Loade station, where we can watch the trains go by and perhaps have an ice cream. Perhaps not – the shop’s shut, but the trains are running and there’s (a very small amount of) chocolate in the camera bag. That’s what they’re for, isn’t it?

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=373755&Y=287526&A=Y&Z=120

Murky Mynd

On By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, Walks1 Comment

It didn’t actually rain, but the air did seem rather wet at times. The morning’s drizzle didn’t clear quite as soon as we’d hoped, and there was little point in using the toposcope on Pole Bank, even if we could see at least 10 yards in all directions. Minutes later, the air began to feel much drier. Did we feel a touch of warmth too? The tea and cakes / ice cream, back at the Cardingmill, were of course excellent, though our indulgence was punished by a last defiant little shower as we walked back to the car…

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=344105&Y=295146&A=Y&Z=120

The steam rally revisited

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CJ 9720 – 2017
CJ 4526 – 1972

Last time we went, it was the Bishop’s Castle traction engine rally – shame on you, did I hear? That could be around 30 years ago! It’s been held at Onslow Park, near Shrewsbury, in recent times. We’ve often thought about going, but seem to be tied up elsewhere at the end of August. Today – we made it. What a show! There’s so much to see, and so much going on, that it’s almost impossible to take it all in. We’ll have to go again next year.

More photos will appear in due course; in the meantime, here’s a taster. “Rusty Nuts” is in Herefordshire County Council livery, and bears the Herefordshire registration CJ 9720. In 1972 I met – and photographed – its sister engine CJ 4526 – working for Herefordshire County Council. It was the only steam roller I ever saw in normal service.

Shrewsbury Steam Rally

Belswardyne blackberries

On By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, Walks2 Comments

A walk from Sheinton to Harley and back – out by Homer and Wigwig, back past Belswardyne. The blackberries weren’t the object of the exercise, but when we saw them beside the hedge (well away from the roads) – big, juicy and ripe – we had to stop and pick a few (still had the bags with us from Tuesday’s abortive sortie). They seem to be ready early this year – as will be the bramble jelly!

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=360605&Y=302751&A=Y&Z=120

Perkley

On By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

A short wander at the northern end of the Wenlock Edge, on a grey but warm and humid afternoon. The blackberries are ripening nicely at present – perhaps we’ll pick a few. That hedge near the end of the walk was well-covered last September… Yes, and it probably will be this September – today there are banks of very unripe berries. Earlier on the walk, we’d passed by some nicely ripe ones (checked, of course, by sampling), but we’d have to carry them with us, so we’ll keep going… It was inevitable, wasn’t it?

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=361420&Y=298936&A=Y&Z=120

Old Iron

On By geoffspagesIn NT and EH, PhotographyLeave a comment

Shropshire is well-known for its role in the industrial revolution, with the iron bridge at – er – Ironbridge being both world-renowned and a very popular venue for tourists and others. That bridge was built in 1779, the first iron bridge in the world. Seventeen years later, Thomas Telford completed what is now the oldest iron aqueduct in the world (a much smaller aqueduct, completed just a month earlier on for the Derby canal, no longer exists). The aqueduct at Longden-on-Tern carried the Shrewsbury canal over the river Tern. It continues to cross the Tern to this day, though the canal is long-gone, and is both a scheduled ancient monument and a grade I listed building. Shame to say that, though we’ve lived in this area for more than 40 years, and driven past many times, we’d never taken a closer look. Until last Sunday, that is, killing time before seeing the Duchess (previous post – yes, we’re out of sync again…). Unlike Ironbridge, we were alone.

Longdon-on-Tern Aqueduct on Engineering Timelines website

The aqueduct…
…over the river Tern
Boat’s eye view
Boatman’s view of the Tern
Iron trough and towpath
Last look, back across the fields

The Duchess in Shropshire

On By geoffspagesIn Photography, Railways...Leave a comment

46233 “Duchess of Sutherland”, that is, hauling the return “Cathedrals Express” from Crewe, via Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton, back to London. There haven’t been many Duchess pacifics in Shropshire recently. Sister locomotive 46229 “Duchess of Hamilton” was active in the area perhaps 30 or more years ago, and 46233 has been to the Severn Valley, but I don’t think there can have many occasions – ever – when one of these Stanier locomotives has pulled a train along this line. Shame about the weather… and the exhaust. The train was heavy enough – eleven and a diesel at the back – but the Duchess had shut off steam when it passed us, already running a minute or two early.